Buying used cars

[quinn]

Hey yall,
I'm currently a college student and thinking about buying a used car. I'm looking to spend between $0 and $15,000. I don't have a huge preference as to what kind of car it is (except I don't want an SUV, minivan, or truck). My basic goal is to get a lot of quality for my money. I live in the Seattle area.

Anybody have any ideas? Are police auctions good places to look? Online ads?

Thanks.

[WEASEL45]

http://www.licketys.com/newtru2.jpg

[wAzZu24]

Good luck finding a car for the low end of your price range.

[BusterStacks]

I recommend an Acura TL circa '99. This comes from years in the used car business. Quality and luxury in an affordable package.

[shadow29]

This question keeps coming up and I keep wondering why.

The answer is clear:

http://hem.passagen.se/salubil/29.jpg

Audi A4.

Perferably 5spd man:

http://www.nordicaudi.com/arkivet/bildarkivet/a4/bilder/a42000/a439.jpg

You can get a 96 for around 8k. Goes up as years go up, as expected.

[mmbt0ne]

mmmmmmmmm

http://www.f2f2s.com/images/audi.jpg

Also, wtf is up with that brown steering wheel? That looks awful.

[ThaSaltCracka]

www.autotrader.com (http://www.autotrader.com)
www.carfax.com (http://www.carfax.com)
www.nwclassifieds.com (http://www.nwclassifieds.com)

[jason_t]

www.edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com/)

[Leo99]

Sounds like you should get a Honda or a Toyota. Honda makes the Acura. You can't go wrong. If you don't drive many miles you can get a higher mileage Lexus or something fancy like that. If you drive a lot, stick with a Camry, Accord, Civic... Not chick magnets, but they're nice cars.

[Ed I]

I've had good luck with Subaru. Last one 98 Legacy wagon with 70k, super clean. I like all wheel drive.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
Civic... Not chick magnets, but they're nice cars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been complemented on my blue 2004 Civic Sedan by multiple chicks. It's a beautiful, reliable car, and it makes me seem responsible.

[i wanna be me]

my pops sells used cars (no he's not a sketchpad) - and when i was looking for a good used car he told me "if you don't get a honda or toyota i'll kick you in the nuts". if you can find a prelude that's not bagged to [censored] get that. if not, civics are pretty sweet (without all the asian decals) - corollas are good too. surprisingly, the ford focus is an alright car too.....anything else is a piece of [censored] or too expensive. if you get a cavalier i'll kick you in the nuts myself...

[gorgeous]

http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/ <--- check that every day and be prepared to make a ton of phone calls. KBB.com and eBay are also good resources to check how much cars are going for. Don't get a standard (manual) transmission if you're gonna be doing a lot of stop-and-go driving unless you love being annoyed.

[Ray Zee]

only buy a used car from the owner of it that drives it. meet the person and you get a feeling for what you are buying. there are so many cars out there not to do this is foolish. that means no dealers.
go to kbb.com look up the private party price for your car. go from there.

[bonanz]

[ QUOTE ]

Also, wtf is up with that brown steering wheel? That looks awful.

[/ QUOTE ]

if you ain't got no rims nigga, don't get no wood grain steering wheel, for real

(mmbt0ne should appreciate that at least)

[balkii]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Also, wtf is up with that brown steering wheel? That looks awful.

[/ QUOTE ]

if you ain't got no rims nigga, don't get no wood grain steering wheel, for real

(mmbt0ne should appreciate that at least)

[/ QUOTE ]

word

[daveymck]

If going for an older car and wanting good reliability and an engine that will last forever need to be looking at the german manufacturers a merc, BMW then Audi and Volkswagen. The Japanese makers are not far behind but dont tend to be quite as good a drive (probably with the exception of the Impreza and Evo).

[shadow29]

Not my car. Those are just random pics I found on the Google.

Is that yours? Nice. We have the same rims.

[Reef]

didn't read thread.

if possible, use that carfax.com service (dunno if that's the exact name).. it has the complete history of the car and tells of any previous flood/fire/body/etc damage

[dogsballs]

[ QUOTE ]
only buy a used car from the owner of it that drives it. meet the person and you get a feeling for what you are buying. there are so many cars out there not to do this is foolish. that means no dealers.

[/ QUOTE ]


Dealers have obligations to meet certain safety stds etc on the cars they sell. You know it own't be a death trap. Buying private runs the risk of finding out later that its a lemon.

My gf bought a vehicle privately a coupl a yrs ago. It literally broke in half driving down the road a while later - rusting of the frame. The thing just buckled.

[astroglide]

[ QUOTE ]
If going for an older car and wanting good reliability and an engine that will last forever need to be looking at the german manufacturers a merc, BMW then Audi and Volkswagen

[/ QUOTE ]

mercedes first for reliability? lollerskates. japan absolutely trounces germany in this dept, but mercedes in particular is a joke. and i'm a german car fan/driver.

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If going for an older car and wanting good reliability and an engine that will last forever need to be looking at the german manufacturers a merc, BMW then Audi and Volkswagen

[/ QUOTE ]

mercedes first for reliability? lollerskates. japan absolutely trounces germany in this dept, but mercedes in particular is a joke. and i'm a german car fan/driver.

[/ QUOTE ]

If by older car he means early-mid 80s mercedes, the op might have a point.I question how reliable any 20 year old car is though:). Once you hit the 90s, mercedes, vw, and audis are the the bottom of the barrel in all the reliablity studies. The engines might be ok (except for VW and Audis with bad coils) but they all suffer from numerous electrical problems. Do 15 minutes of googling if you care about the details. I haven't heard too many bad things about BMW and Porsche reliability but I think they are still a step down from honda and toyota (and therefore lexus and acura) but equal to the good american brands and secondary japanese ones.

Of course reliability isn't the reason most people pick a car. It is about being safe, looking good, and cost of ownership.

[Matt Flynn]

no to police auctions.

go ahead and buy from a local, but learn at least a little about cars. they will not have washed the engine, so get under and look for oil leaks. check the pavement under the car for oil. test basic suspension by sitting hard on each corner. check the hoses and transmission fluid (should be thinly translucent). etc. test drive it. take a hard turn in each direction to check the cv boots, test the brakes, check the lights, look at the upholstery, ask about oil changes. i don't know squat about cars. last one i could fix stem to stern was a '72 Dodge Dart and even then got confused by the vacuum advance. but have bought a dozen used ones from individuals and one from Carmax. it pays to do the basic checks. get it inspected by a mechanic too.

my 2 cents.

matt

[Leo99]

The last used car I would buy is a European car. I'd buy American before European.

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
The last used car I would buy is a European car. I'd buy American before European.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about early 90s korean? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

The big question hear is what do you mean by used. There is a huge difference between 2-3 year old car and a 5-7 year old. Once you cross that 100K mark/timeframe there are a bunch of part s that begin to wear out. Still cheaper than new but it can get pricey.

Personally I am still shuddering at the thought of buying a mid 90s audi. They do look good though...

[daveymck]

[ QUOTE ]
The last used car I would buy is a European car. I'd buy American before European.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well then you are an idiot, American cars are some of the worst out there. Chrysler are in Europe selling crap cars, Chevrolet are trying it now and a few others are coming they all have the same thing in common that they are rubbish drives and are no where near the quality of German makes.

As for my previous comments about mercs I was talking about the older cars the old C and E class the engines are good for a good few hundred thousand miles, and I would rather have somthing like that than an old ford or similar.

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The last used car I would buy is a European car. I'd buy American before European.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well then you are an idiot, American cars are some of the worst out there. Chrysler are in Europe selling crap cars, Chevrolet are trying it now and a few others are coming they all have the same thing in common that they are rubbish drives and are no where near the quality of German makes.

As for my previous comments about mercs I was talking about the older cars the old C and E class the engines are good for a good few hundred thousand miles, and I would rather have somthing like that than an old ford or similar.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your views on quality are a decade out of date. German cars (MB,VW and Audi. Not sure about BMW) have gotten worse while american cars have gotten better. The american cars might not feel as well built, but they score significantly better on every reliablity survey I have seen for the past 5 years.

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]

Your views on quality are a decade out of date. German cars (MB,VW and Audi. Not sure about BMW) have gotten worse while american cars have gotten better. The american cars might not feel as well built, but they score significantly better on every reliablity survey I have seen for the past 5 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Those reliability surveys are unreliable. They are biased because people who buy European cars have much higher expectations than people forced to own U.S. crap. And this won't even be an issue much longer, as GM is close to bankruptcy and Ford is close behind. It's a coinflip whether Chrysler will be shut down by DaimlerBenz soon as well.

[Leo99]

LOL. GM owns Saab. Ford owns Volvo. Benz and Chrysler merged. VW is closer to bankruptcy than GM. I guess with all those FIATs, Europeans have higher expectations.

[astroglide]

...and audi owns vw

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&e=9&u=/nm/autos_gm_sales_dc

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Your views on quality are a decade out of date. German cars (MB,VW and Audi. Not sure about BMW) have gotten worse while american cars have gotten better. The american cars might not feel as well built, but they score significantly better on every reliablity survey I have seen for the past 5 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Those reliability surveys are unreliable. They are biased because people who buy European cars have much higher expectations than people forced to own U.S. crap. And this won't even be an issue much longer, as GM is close to bankruptcy and Ford is close behind. It's a coinflip whether Chrysler will be shut down by DaimlerBenz soon as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure. <sarcasm>And people that buy japanese and korean cars expect crap which is why the former is at the top of the list and the later is climbing.</> The is some truth that the surveys have some selection bias's but that doesn't explain everything.

Again, the european cars are put together bettter than american cars. They just aren't as reliable. The difference in reliablity doesn't matter to a lot of people but saying the american cars are less reliable is just false.

And for a prime example of european reliability, look at Jaguar and Ferrari. /images/graemlins/grin.gif There are also examples of super reliable german brands (porsche).

[Leo99]

And VW owns Rolls Royce.... ?

[daveymck]

VW, Audi and Seat are all the same make they are the exact same cars with a different body on them and slightly tweaked suspension etc. Same with Ford and Jaguar a Xtype jag is the same car as a mondeo.

American cars do badly over here because they dont aim them for the european markets. In reliability studies (generally owner based) over here its still BMW as the best euro manufaturer with Honda and Toyota faring the best. Chrysler and Chevrolet have really bad reputations over here, dodge and cadillac are about to launch so we will see how they do.

The Korean and other far eastern cars are not seen as that good Hyundi and others, on a recent BBC motoring show they took all the far eastern cars and were testing them one was a hadling test the guy testing ended up sliding out of the seat and into the passenger seat so they stopped the test.

Mercedes has really slipped in quality (the original op was talking about buying older cars) althought they are trying to adress it with the revised A class and the new ML coming out later in the year. But even with this slippage the German cars are still well ahead of the US imports we get over here.

Yes there are some crappy euro makes Fiat, Citreon and renault the cars are ok but drop to bits easy. Volvo make decent reliable cars but they are a bit crappy to drive and Saab are ok not that reliable and having had one for a while crappy to drive, which doesnt bode well as the cadillac being sold in europe is based on the current saab 9-3.

Maybe american cars are getting better and more reliable but as yet we are not seeing that in eurpoe and I dont see at this point them overtaking the obvious Japanses and German manufacturers as cars I would want to own.

[astroglide]

i believe volvo's reliability ratings are at an all-time low here in the states

[daveymck]

Still doing ok over here although the new main JD power survey comes out next month.

JD Power (http://www.whatcar.co.uk/News_SpecialReport.asp?NA_ID=207800&EL_ID=3061018)

1 Honda Jazz 88.4%
2 Lexus IS200/300 88.3%
3 Mazda 323 85.5%
4 Skoda Octavia 85.4%
Mazda Premacy 85.4%
Toyota Yaris 85.4%
7 Skoda Fabia 85.1%
8 BMW 5-series 84.7%
9 Toyota Corolla 84.4%
10 Mazda 626 84.1%
11 Mazda Demio 84.0%
12 Volvo S80 83.9%
Toyota RAV4 83.9%
14 Suzuki Ignis 83.8%
BMW 3-series 83.8%
16 Honda HR-V 83.7%
17 Honda Civic 83.4%
18 Honda CR-V 83.3%
19 Saab 9-5 83.0%
Mazda MX-5 83.0%
21 Audi A4 82.9%
22 Volvo V70 82.8%
23 Toyota Celica 82.7%
24 Honda Accord 82.5%
25 Audi A2 82.4%
26 Toyota Avensis 82.3%
27 Hyundai Santa Fe 82.0%
28 Ford Focus 81.9%
Hyundai Amica 81.9%
Vauxhall Corsa 81.9%
31 Suzuki Wagon R+ 81.8%
Rover 75/MG ZT 81.8%
33 Nissan Almera Tino 81.7%
Volvo S60 81.7%
35 Jaguar S-type 81.6%
36 Volvo S40/V40 81.5%
37 Suzuki Liana 81.2%
38 Seat Toledo 81.1%
38 Mitsubishi Space Star 81.1%
40 Audi TT 81.0%
41 Nissan Primera 80.9%
Mercedes-Benz E-class 80.9%
43 Volkswagen Bora 80.8%
44 Nissan Almera 80.7%
45 Ford Ka 80.6%
Ford Puma 80.6%
47 Hyundai Coupe 80.5%
Saab 9-3 80.5%
Ford Mondeo 80.5%
50 Vauxhall Astra 80.4%
Subaru Impreza 80.4%
Audi A3 80.4%
53 Proton Wira 80.3%
Vauxhall Agila 80.3%
55 Vauxhall Zafira 80.2%
56 Hyundai Matrix 80.1%
Mini 80.1%
Volkswagen Golf 80.1%
59 Vauxhall Omega 80.0%
Nissan X-Trail 80.0%
61 Volkswagen Lupo 79.9%
Volkswagen Beetle 79.9%
63 Audi A6 79.8%
64 Mercedes-Benz A-class 79.7%
65 Nissan Micra 79.6%
Jaguar X-type 79.6%
67 Hyundai Elantra 79.4%
Renault Scenic 79.4%
Citroen C3 79.4%
Volkswagen Polo 79.4%
Mercedes-Benz C-class 79.4%
72 Citroen Berlingo 79.1%
73 Mitsubishi Carisma 79.0%
Chrysler PT Cruiser 79.0%
75 Seat Leon 78.9%
Suzuki Swift 78.9%
77 Renault Megane 78.8%
Hyundai Accent 78.8%
79 Seat Ibiza 78.6%
Seat Arosa 78.6%
81 Kia Rio 78.5%
Suzuki Grand Vitara 78.5%
Citroen Xsara Picasso 78.5%
Rover 45/MG ZS 78.5%
85 Peugeot 106 78.1%
86 Fiat Seicento 77.9%
Ford Fiesta 77.9%
Volkswagen Passat 77.9%
Renault Kangoo 77.9%
Daewoo Matiz 77.9%
91 Renault Clio 77.8%
92 Peugeot 306 77.7%
93 Vauxhall Vectra 77.6%
94 Peugeot 406 77.5%
95 Fiat Punto 77.3%
Peugeot 206 77.3%
97 Citroen C5 76.9%
98 Citroen Xsara 76.8%
99 Chrysler Neon 76.7%
100 Citroen Saxo 76.6%
101 Chrysler Voyager/Grand Voyager 76.2%
Rover 25/MG ZR 76.2%
Fiat Multipla 76.2%
104 Daewoo Tacuma 76.0%
Land Rover Discovery 76.0%
106 Suzuki Jimny 75.8%
107 Daewoo Nubira 75.7%
108 Ford Galaxy 75.6%
109 Daewoo Lanos 75.3%
110 Alfa Romeo 147 75.1%
Renault Laguna 75.1%
112 Land Rover Freelander 74.9%
113 Alfa Romeo 156 74.8%
114 Kia Sedona 74.5%
115 Fiat Stilo 74.1%
116 Fiat Brava 73.8%
117 MGF/TF 73.6%
118 Peugeot 307 73.1%
119 Renault Espace/Grand Espace 72.8%
120 Fiat Bravo 69.3%

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
i believe volvo's reliability ratings are at an all-time low here in the states

[/ QUOTE ]

Volvo is very model specific. The cars are ok but the SUV and cross over vehicle are below average.